MOBILITY MATTERS
CABBIE TO PAY £1,895 AFTER DESERTING BLIND MAN AND HIS GUIDE DOG IN STOURBRIDGE
A PHV driver who abandoned a blind man in the ‘middle of nowhere’ after he refused to pay a bogus £2 fare for his guide dog has been fined. The Birmingham Mail reports that Zafar Ali demanded dis- abled passenger Nicholas Mills hand over an extra £2 for bringing his golden labrador Percy into the PHV with him on his journey home. But he dumped the ‘totally blind’ man on the side of the road at night when Mr Mills said no. The strand- ed victim only managed to make it back to his Stourbridge home after a good Samaritan offered to give him a lift. Ali now has to pay almost £1,900 for refusing to take Mr Mills home over the £2 quibble. He faces losing his licence and will be brought before a Dudley Council committee later this year after he failed to turn up for his trial at Dudley Magis- trates’ Court on Friday 8 October. Ali - who worked for Stourbridge-based A2B Falcon Elite at
BOLTON CABBIE FINED FOR REFUSING BLIND MAN AND HIS GUIDE DOG
A PHV driver who refused to pick up a passenger and his guide dog has been prosecuted by licensing chiefs. According to the Bolton News, Sajjad Robani, who failed to attend Bolton Magistrates Court on September 22, was convicted in his absence of violating The Equality Act 2010. He was fined £440 and ordered to pay court costs of £200. Robani, an Uber driver, refused to pick up Callum Stoneman and his guide dog Iggy on a journey in Bolton on February 12, 2020. In a statement, Mr Stoneman and an independent witness both stated that the driver saw the dog, who was wearing his harness, and told Mr Stoneman, “no dogs”. But in his statement, Mr Robani said he did not see anyone waiting at the pick-up address nor did he see any assistance dog so proceeded to drive off. Mr Stoneman said: “It’s incredibly frustrating and humiliating to be denied a taxi, just for having an assistance dog (my eyes) with me. Unfortunately, this happens far too often to blind people with guide dogs, and it needs to stop.” Under the terms of the 2010 Equality Act, a driver cannot refuse to take a disabled person and their dog. It is also an offence if they make any additional charge for letting the dog remain with the owner. Cllr Hilary Fairclough, the borough’s executive member for regulatory services, said: “Taxi drivers have a legal obligation to accept assistance dogs in their vehicles unless they have a medical condition which prevents them from doing so. In such cases an exemption certificate is issued. “Drivers are made aware of their obligations towards pas- sengers in their driver training.”
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the time - picked up his customer just before 10pm on August 8, 2019. The taxi driver told Mr Mills he would kick him out of the taxi if he refused to pay the £8 fare, which included £2 for the dog, when he was ‘halfway home’. But Mr Mills insisted the fare should be £6 as it is illegal to charge extra for guide dogs. The ‘aggressive’ driver confirmed with a colleague there was no extra charge but continued with his demands before proclaiming ‘right get out’. In a witness statement, Mr Mills said he felt uncomfortable as Ali gave the impression he ‘didn’t like dogs’, told him to stop Percy ‘from looking at him’ and ‘moaned’ about the guide dog throughout the journey. He said: “I was told to get out of the car. I heard the driver tell the operator on the radio that I was refusing to pay the fare which wasn’t true. I just didn’t want to pay for the guide dog. He stopped the car and told me to get out. I did as he said and he drove away leaving me and my dog on the side of the road. I had no idea where I was. I knew that my dog wasn’t familiar with that area and that is a real problem. “My sight is non-existent. I cannot see at all. I cannot see shadows. I cannot even see glimpses of light. It is total blind- ness. I rely totally on my dog.” The court also heard that Mr Mills complained to the taxi company but has still had no response two years on. Ali was convicted in his absence of being a PHV driver who failed or refused to carry out booking for disabled person accompanied by an assistance dog. The 68-year-old from Lye, Stourbridge, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge £595 costs and £200 compensation.
BRADFORD PH DRIVER FINED FOR REFUSING TO TAKE GUIDE DOG
A PH driver who refused to take a disabled customer and their assistance dog in his cab has been fined £215. The Telegraph and Argus reports that Sher Gul, 59, from Bradford, pleaded guilty to refusing to accept the person’s booking which had been requested by his operator. On January 13, 2020, he refused to transport a disabled per- son with an assistance dog, in breach of the Equality Act. He was ordered to pay £215; a fine of £83, costs of £100 and a victim surcharge of £32 at a hearing on Monday, October 18, at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court. If the passenger is a guide dog owner, it is a criminal offence to refuse to carry their dog, or to charge extra for doing so. The only exception is if the driver has a medical exemption certificate from the local council due to a genuine medical condition aggravated by exposure to dogs, and in that case the driver should help the passenger find another driver.
NOVEMBER 2021
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